The new face of information security for judges
CONCERN ABOUT SECURITY IS NOT NEW. Courts and judges have long concerned themselves with security - security of court premises, of judges, court staff, and the public. As long as judicial information was stored on paper, the security of that information was mostly taken care of by the same physical, administrative and personnel security measures in place to protect every other court asset. Locks on the doors, video cameras, security guards, checkpoints and locked filing cabinets were enough to prevent unauthorized access to the very sensitive information contained in court files.
TRADITIONAL METHODS WORK IN A PAPER ENVIRONMENT. Judges and judicial staff traditionally worked exclusively in their chambers and offices; court files consisted of bundles or boxes of paper which were removed from secure storage, physically transported to, from and within the court, and replaced by administrative staff following longstanding, well-understood procedures.
COURT TECHNOLOGY CHANGES EVERYTHING. The huge conveniences of an electronic court information system are now considered an essential part of any modern court. But the digital nature of judicial information today means that traditional methods of security are completely inadequate to deal with the very real threats facing every court and every judge. Best practices for the security of information are set out in several international standards; best practices for the security of judicial information are implemented by a handful of courts, and notably published by the Canadian judicial Council in their Blueprint for the Security of Judicial Information [pdf].
TRADITIONAL METHODS WORK IN A PAPER ENVIRONMENT. Judges and judicial staff traditionally worked exclusively in their chambers and offices; court files consisted of bundles or boxes of paper which were removed from secure storage, physically transported to, from and within the court, and replaced by administrative staff following longstanding, well-understood procedures.
COURT TECHNOLOGY CHANGES EVERYTHING. The huge conveniences of an electronic court information system are now considered an essential part of any modern court. But the digital nature of judicial information today means that traditional methods of security are completely inadequate to deal with the very real threats facing every court and every judge. Best practices for the security of information are set out in several international standards; best practices for the security of judicial information are implemented by a handful of courts, and notably published by the Canadian judicial Council in their Blueprint for the Security of Judicial Information [pdf].
Standards and best practices for managing electronic evidence
PAPER ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH ANY MORE. Websites, Facebook pages, email, spreadsheets are now more important in most cases than printed evidence. And in all proceedings where there is any electronic evidence or more than a handful of hard copy, triers of fact must be prepared to facilitate the production, exchange and presentation of evidence in its most admissible (authentic) and efficient form (database). This involves not only a knowledge of applicable evidence laws, but technical know-how, which many judges have not had the opportunity to gain over the course of their careers.
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Standards for the preparation of judgments in electronic form
Many of the standards established for the publication of judgments in electronic form, which today are taken for granted by researchers, lawyers and judges - for example paragraph instead of page numbering - originated in the work of Martin Felsky and the Canadian Judicial Council. For more information see the Judicial Council publications page in English here and en français ici.
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